Over one-third of small-sized businesses do not choose to build websites even though they require one to be competitive in 2022. Here are four ways that businesses can improve the management of their websites.

Imagine you’re searching for the best place to go for haircut. You’re looking for a local barbershop or salon and locate one that seems promising as per the reviews posted from Yelp or Google.

You eagerly search for an online link to the business’s website, only to discover that there isn’t one. What are your thoughts? Are you tempted to try getting a haircut in a salon without a website or continue in search of a different hair salon with an online presence?

Websites can be a great resource for customers to get the most important details about the company, including locations, employees cases studies, as well as mission statements.

Websites verify information that people discover online like on social media sites or review sites from third parties. Websites are essential for building and maintaining relationships with their customers. They are usually the first place people go to know more about a company.

Over one-third of small companies did not have a site in 2021 and a study of Top Design Firms shows that this number has dropped to 27% by 2022.

Customers expect companies to have websites but. If you do not have a single source of vital information, such as the contact information and address it could be viewed as inauthentic to customers.

Some businesses may not have websites due to the expense or time commitment, or simply because they feel their company products don’t require having an online presence. Certain companies may also be enticed to utilize social media to serve as an alternative to an actual website.

Our results showed that businesses must create web pages that are well designed, regularly maintained, and filled with relevant information.

Our Results

• A majority of small-scale businesses (37 percent) do not have a web presence.

• A majority of small-sized businesses (29 percent) are using a website to increase their rank in search results.

• Nearly a quarter of small companies (23 percent) have difficulty balancing the time and knowledge needed to develop and maintain websites.

• The majority of small-sized firms (69 percent) have employees in-house who manage their websites. However, over three-quarters (77 percent) of the in-house employees manage the website in addition to other tasks.

• The most well-known type of content for websites of small businesses. It’s also it is the most effective way of driving customers back to small business websites.

Based on our research Here are four recommendations for managing websites:

Your website should be designed to be used by people, not engines.

Conduct regular website maintenance

Utilize external resources

Visual content can be published

Create Your Website to be Usable to be a place for people, not Engines

Search engine ranking is crucial to ensure that your website is reaching the correct people. We discovered in 2022 that nearly one-third of medium and small companies (29 percent) had websites that be ranked organically in search results. The ranking in search engine result webpages (SERPs) is the 2nd most frequent motive that business owners used to justify the creation of a website.

More than one-third of businesses (34 percent) stated that they use their websites to promote their products and services. Websites that place excessive weight on search engine readability seem unnatural to site users.

It is easy to spot websites that are trying to rank on SERPs but not at the expense of their clients. The content on their websites is usually written strangely. Keyword stuffing is an instance of websites that try to get into SERPs but without compromising user experience. Customers may be overwhelmed and dissatisfied when they see the exact same phrase or keyword repeated.

Make your website’s content accessible to people who are searching, not for your search engine in order to maximize the experience for your existing as well as potential customers.

Conduct regular maintenance of your website
The most effective websites are designed and maintained regularly and with care. Your visitors are likely to be disappointed if the information on your site is outdated or if your website isn’t performing well. A quarter of businesses (23 percent) reported that the main web-based challenge of 2022, was lack of expertise and time required to manage websites.

Even websites with minimal features require dedicated time to ensure that the user interface is appealing to visitors, that hyperlinks are functioning and that the content is current. If you fail to or delay website maintenance it could increase your website’s bounce rate, as well as disappoint potential customers.

A 2022 survey conducted by Clutch, for instance, discovered the following: 63% of users are likely to stop using an untrustworthy website for good. 50% of visitors (50 percent) will leave your site for good if the website’s content isn’t useful to people. When you design your website ensure that you have sufficient time and resources to keep it up and running.

Hire Outside Resources
The process of creating and maintaining web pages is easy with the right team responsible for the task. In 2022, the majority of small-sized enterprises (69 percent) employed employees in-house to develop as well as manage websites. Many of those employed in-house have to balance the management of their website with other tasks.

If employees attempt to manage the website for the company, while also supporting the customers, or managing their finances for instance it can lead to some of these tasks being left unfinished.

Only 23% of the in-house employees worked on the site solely in 2022.

Our study also revealed an average of 30% of small businesses utilize website builders software like Squarespace as well as Wix. These kinds of software make it simple for people with little knowledge of web design and development to design a basic site by starting from the beginning.

Wix is an example. It is a free website-building application that let users select among automatic design software as well as custom templates. Wix’s Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) is an AI-powered solution for companies who want a quick website that requires minimal effort. Wix Editor Wix Editor lets you personalize templates using images, fonts, text along with color schemes. These tools can be useful for small companies with internal teams who do not have the time or resources to devote their attention to websites exclusively.

Consultants and designers for websites, nevertheless, can be valuable sources if you’re looking to make your small company website by adding advanced features. Certain web design firms are even specialized in website development software to assist you in getting the most value from the tools. Smaller businesses are able to conduct ongoing maintenance once their web developer develops a quality website that is in keeping with the brand’s image and mission.

Create Visual Content
Text on a website could be dull and ineffective for prospective customers. Small-scale businesses should focus on creating engaging images for their sites. In our survey for 2022 that a quarter of businesses (25 percent) claimed that visuals bring the highest traffic to their websites.

The companies also claim that product descriptions (19 percent) along with video clips (12 percent) are the main reason for traffic to websites.

Websites that are stuffed with text are reminiscent of the beginning days of the internet in the days when websites like The Economist were less sophisticated and less user-friendly than they are now.

Text and images create a website that is easily scannable and interesting for prospective clients. Visuals may include pictures, graphics or infographics which make up large parts of the text. Use images such as logos and images on your home page and product pages. Also, you should complement your blog posts as well as other long-form written content with graphs, images or other photos to enhance the quality of your content for your readers.

Avoid common Small Business Website Make-ups

Websites are often the initial step on the journey of a customer. Small businesses must develop and maintain attractive user-friendly, attractive, and functional websites for the market they intend to target. Over one-third of small-scale businesses didn’t have a website in the year 2022. In the companies that did have websites, one-quarter of them struggled with creating and maintaining their online presence.

With the world shifting more and more online since the coronavirus epidemic having a website has become more important than ever before for small-scale businesses. Instead of relying on internal employees with responsibilities that are typically split between managing websites and other tasks, companies need to hire freelancers who are professional or web designers to aid with maintaining their websites.

About the Survey

Bhavitra surveyed 500 small managers and owners of companies across the U.S. and India with fewer than 500 employees. We define small companies as ones with limited revenues as well as between 1 to 500 workers which are in line with the definition of the Small Business Administration of small businesses.

Seven percent (7 7 percent) of the businesses that respondents own employ one employee; 75% of them have 2 to 10 employees. 14% have between 11 and 50 employees 22 percent have between 51 and 250 employees and one percent have between 251 and 500 employees.

Sixty-one percent (61 percent) of the respondents to surveys are females; 39% of respondents are male.

Four percent (4 percent) of the respondents of respondents are Generation Z (born after 1996) 20 percent is millennials (1981-1996) and 33 percent comprise Generation X (1965-1980); and 44% of respondents are Baby Boomers and older (before 1966).

Respondents come mostly from the South (36 percent), West (23%), Midwest (22%) and Northeast (15 15%).